By Sheila Samples
9/26/08
We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men ~~ George Orwell
So here we sit, our heads jerking back and forth so rapidly most of us are suffering severe whiplash. Will the US attack Iran? Will Israel attack Iran? Or will the two war-mongering bullies join forces and "bomb, bomb, bomb" that belligerent twit-nation into subservience?
It's a great game. A deadly game. The momentum to attack Iran has been building for so long that we're conditioned to watching it like some grotesque international tennis competition. It's the Peter Principle Playoffs, with neoconsters and ziomonsters out on the court milling around, working at their highest "levels of incompetence," feverishly plotting Iran's destruction. Foul lines mean nothing to them. There are no rules, no officials, no scores, no accountability.
Bolton's Law
Immediately before Bush invaded Iraq, the criminally insane John Bolton, then Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, made a personal trip to Israel to assure Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that as soon as we destroyed Iraq, we'd "deal with threats" from Syria, Iran and North Korea. However, it's obvious Iran has always been at the top of the list.
Since 2003, both US and Israeli governments, the corporate media, especially Fox News, and the US Congress have been unrelenting in their campaign to convince the world that Iran is an immediate nuclear threat, although Iran insists it is seeking nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. In August 2003, the UK Guardian's Simon Tisdall wrote, "They call it a trap. But we call it Bolton's first law of international power politics; keep the other guy guessing; wear him down. When he gives a little, demand a whole lot more. Then zap him anyway."
Bolton's Law: Make wild accusations. Escalate terror and confusion. Kill. Repeat.
It's no laughing matter, but the sight of this tousle-headed, "got milk?" maniac running in circles, warning of -- demanding -- a nuclear holocaust is good for a grin, albeit a grim one. Even as he was being forced onto the United Nations over national and international objections, Bolton was hot on Iran's trail. He insisted that Iran is the most dangerous critter out there -- harboring terrorists, arming terrorists, training terrorists -- sending bombs, IEDs, weapons to Iraq to kill Americans. If it weren't for Iran, there would have been no 9-11 attack because Iran provided safe haven for the box-cutting killers headed our way. Bolton warned if Iran managed to produce a single nuclear weapon, Israel, the United States -- the world -- was toast. He promised that Iran will come after us. "That's the threat," Bolton barked, "that's the reality whether you like it or not. And it will be just like Sept. 11, only with nuclear weapons this time."
Bolton keeps showing up for work even though his paycheck is now signed by the second most powerful Israeli Lobby, the American Enterprise Institute . He's determined that Iran is going down and, if he can't goad the US into action, he will whip Israel into a frenzy. Like the Batman's Joker, Bolton leaps from the pages of the Wall Street Journal in catastrophic convulsions on a regular basis. On July 15, Bolton insisted "we should be intensively considering what cooperation the U.S. will extend to Israel before, during and after a strike on Iran. We will be blamed for the strike anyway," Bolton reasoned, "...so there is compelling logic to make it as successful as possible. At a minimum, we should place no obstacles in Israel's path, and facilitate its efforts where we can."
Who's On First?
Bolton is surrounded by fellow psychopaths like Norman Podhoretz who insists our only choice is to bomb Iran before Iran gets the bomb and bombs us. Podhoretz is a key figure in the Playoffs with his constant drumbeat that Iran is the "leading sponsor of terrorism in the world," and once it achieves nuclear technology, we're all gonna die!
And National Review's Larry Kudlow, who swooned ecstatically when Israel cluster-bombed Lebanon two years ago. Israel was "doing the Lord's work," defending freedom against the "Iranian cat's-paw" of terrorism. Kudlow says Israel must not stop, but furiously attack "all the terrorist sanctuaries, training camps, weapons caches, and missile systems it can find." Scary Larry enthusiastically supports at least half of Bolton's Law -- the last half.
Others joining Bolton for whom the destruction of Iran is a political game include Bill Kristol, virtuous "bookie" Bill Bennett, Joe Lieberman, and Daniel Pipes, whose harsh and raucous predictions center around whether Bush will attack Iran before or after the upcoming election. If McCain wins, most say that Bush will pass the nuclear baton to him while sprinting to the finish line to pardon his fellow war criminals. However, if McCain should lose, they agree that Bush will get his war on and leave the mess for Obama to clean up.
Those who continue to beat the drums of war trust that we will believe what they say without considering the obvious. Just last week, to coincide with President Ahmadi-Nejad's visit to the UN, former UN ambassador Richard Holbrooke, former CIA director James Woolsey, former Clinton Middle East coordinator Dennis Ross, and former UN representative for management and reform Mark Wallace wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal regurgitating rigid neoconservative talking points.
Channeling Cheney, they wrote that we shouldn't believe Iran when it says it "needs nuclear energy and is enriching nuclear materials for strictly peaceful purposes." Hey, Iran has "vast supplies of inexpensive oil and natural gas," so there's no "legitimate economic reason for Iran to pursue nuclear energy."
Then, unable to resist an unsubstantiated "Bushism" or two, these heavy hitters warned that "Iran is a deadly and irresponsible world actor," and should it get the bomb, Iran would "sponsor terror, threaten our allies, and support the most deadly elements of the Iraqi insurgency."
Finally, they whipped out Bolton's Law with the wild -- and discredited -- accusation that "President Ahmadinejad specifically calls for Israel to be 'wiped from the map,' while seeking the weapons to do so."
The constant discordant barrage of accusations and demands is so outrageous we attempt to shrug it off as mostly ideological clatter-babble, yet we sit paralyzed with fear. We are unable to recognize the real danger that looms just beyond the shadows.
But we know he's there. When Dick Cheney emerges, we are bewitched by the horror he evokes as he piles lie upon bloody lie about Iran's nuclear activities -- in spite of international findings and US intelligence lack of evidence. He accuses Iran of smuggling weapons of mass destruction into Iraq to kill Americans. Iran is training insurgents, is joined at the hip with Al-Qaeda, is the world's most dangerous sponsor of terrorism, and if it can get its hands on just one nuclear weapon, it will immediately lob it in Israel's direction.
In 2005, Cheney instructed the Pentagon to draw up a plan for a nuclear attack on Iran should another 9-11-type terrorist attack on the U.S. occur, even if Iran had nothing to do with it. To provoke a war, Cheney suggested dressing up Navy Seals as Iranians, putting them on fake Iranian speedboats, and shooting at them. Murdering Americans in cold blood, exterminating 60-70 million innocent Iranians and contaminating millions more throughout the region is a small price for Cheney to pay. Iran must face the consequences for having the audacity to possess two-thirds of the world's oil.
Bad, Bad Ahmadi-Nejad
Since being elected in June 2005 as Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad has rhetorically stepped in it and tracked it all over the Persian rug. Scarcely in office four months, he gave a speech in which he quoted the Ayatollah Khomeini who had said years earlier -- "This regime occupying Jerusalem (een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods) must [vanish from] from the page of time (bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad)." That comment was transcribed as Ahmadi-Nejad threatening to wipe Israel off the map, and despite repeated efforts to get the correct translation out, the world's media went into a shrieking frenzy that has yet to abate.
Ahmadi-Nejad has made numerous public and private diplomatic overtures to the United States in the last three years, and all have been rejected -- with insults, sneers, and threats. It is critical to the outcome of the Playoffs that spectators see Ahmadi-Nejad as a criminally insane killer who is a threat to the entire world. He is sort of cocky, and his arrogance at insisting that Iran has the same rights and privileges under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as the other members, that Iran has the right to pursue nuclear power for peaceful purposes, and that George Bush is not Iran's "Decider" is driving guys like Bolton over the edge.
Which -- when you think about it -- is not necessarily a bad thing...
So, who is this guy? Few know that Ahmadi-Nejad is an Engineer with a Ph.D on transportation engineering, a university professor, a working member on the Iran Civil Engineering Society, and the Islamic Association of Students in the Science and Technology University, as well as others. He is an accomplished journalist and former managing director of the Hamshahri newspaper. He was the mayor of Tehran before running for president. Even fewer know that, in reality, he wields no power other than that allotted to him by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader. He's deeply religious, stubborn and reckless. He's unpredictable and, at times, dangerous. Ohmigod -- when you think about it -- Ahmadi-Nejad is "Bush with Brains!"
Should We Fear Iran?
Iran's nuclear ambitions for other than peaceful purposes are as elusive as Iraq's WMD, which defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld said were "in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat." Yet we are in danger of being swept up in the propaganda catapulted by the Bush administration and the corporate media once again. Perhaps we should take a deep breath and apply a bit of logic here, pay close attention to the obvious. If Iran is truly a threat to the entire world, then we should be afraid. However, demanding that Iran either prove a negative or face extermination of millions of its citizens does not, and should not, pass the terror smell test.
It is obvious that, in this unstable era, we should be aware of, and even fear, those countries bristling with nukes. For starters, the United States has more nuclear weapons than any other nation. Then there's Russia, China, France, Britain, India, Pakistan, North Korea and...shhhhh...Israel. Currently, Pakistan is in turmoil and threatening to shoot down US planes that fly across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and kill civilians, Russia refuses to back off from its Georgia stance no matter how vigorously Condi Rice wags her finger in its face, China has abruptly cut off financial deals with the US because of the plummeting dollar, and North Korea is restarting its Yongbyon nuclear reactor because Bush broke his promise to remove it from Washington's list of state sponsors of terror.
Yet, amidst all this fury and instability, we are obsessed with destroying Iran -- a nation that, in modern history, has never attacked another country -- and which has repeatedly maintained it seeks nuclear power primarily for generating electricity for its growing population. In 2005, Ayatollah Khamenei issued a Fatwa that "the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons are forbidden under Islam and that Iran shall never acquire these weapons."
What is obvious to anyone familiar with the timeline of Iran's nuclear program from the 1950s is that Iran has never sought nuclear energy for anything other than peaceful purposes. In 1957, the Shah opened the American Atoms for Peace in Tehran, and signed an agreement with the US for cooperation in research on peaceful uses of nuclear technology. And, in 1968, Iran signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty on the first day it opened for signature. In the late 70's, the US supplied Iran with two nuclear power reactors and enriched uranium fuel, and granted Iran the "most favored nation" status so it would not be discriminated against when seeking permission to reprocess US-origin fuel.
To restate the obvious -- if we are to fear Iran, it is not because, as Bush said in June -- "They refuse to abandon their desires to develop the know-how which could lead to a nuclear weapon" -- it is because Iran threatens to defend itself if attacked. It is because other nations, such as Russia, refuse to stand idly by as Iran is "wiped off the map."
We need to get our minds around who is the aggressor here. Because if we continue to passively watch the evil unfold; if Dick Cheney wins the behind-the-scenes, off-court power struggle, the Peter Principle Playoffs will be over and the entire Middle East will explode in nuclear flames.
Sheila Samples http://sheilastuff.blogspot.com/ is an Oklahoma writer and a former civilian US Army Public Information Officer. She is a regular contributor for a variety of Internet sites. Contact her at rsamples@wichitaonline.net
Friday, September 26, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
interesting
Spies Warn That Al Qaeda Aims for October Surprise
Intercepted Messages Asking Local Cells To Be Prepared for Imminent Instructions
By ELI LAKE, Staff Reporter of the Sun September 22, 2008
http://www.nysun.com/foreign/spies-warn-that-al-qaeda-aims-for-october-surprise/86326/
WASHINGTON — In the aftermath of two major terrorist attacks on Western targets, America's counterterrorism community is warning that Al Qaeda may launch more overseas operations to influence the presidential elections in November.
A Pakistani army soldier stands guard by the devastated Marriott Hotel following an overnight suicide bombing at Islamabad on September 21, 2008.
Call it Osama bin Laden's "October surprise." In late August, during the weekend between the Democratic and Republican conventions, America's military and intelligence agencies intercepted a series of messages from Al Qaeda's leadership to intermediate members of the organization asking local cells to be prepared for imminent instructions.[...]
What Was Mysterious Activity Going on in the Marriott Hotel Islamabad by United States Marines
Sunday, 21 September 2008 12:18 www.daily.pk
http://www.daily.pk/politics/politicalnews/7422-what-was-mysterious-activity-going-on-in-the-marriott-hotel-islamabad-by-united-states-marines.html
Marriott Hotel has now become a ghost house which was yesterday the most beautiful and prestigious hotels in the Islamabad. While the condemnation of the blasts and the deaths and the loss of property is going on from all the quarters, some intriguing news is also pouring in.[...]
Heretofore Unheard of Group Claims Credit for Islamabad Blast
Posted September 22, 2008
http://news.antiwar.com/2008/09/22/heretofore-unheard-of-group-claims-credit-for-islamabad-blast/
A group calling itself Fedayeen Islam has claimed credit for Saturday’s attack on the Islamabad Marriott Hotel.
Though the authenticity of the claim could not be verified, Al-Arabiya television reported a correspondent received a text message containing a phone number. When the number was called a recorded message took credit for the blast. The voice reportedly had a South Asian accent.[...]
Intercepted Messages Asking Local Cells To Be Prepared for Imminent Instructions
By ELI LAKE, Staff Reporter of the Sun September 22, 2008
http://www.nysun.com/foreign/spies-warn-that-al-qaeda-aims-for-october-surprise/86326/
WASHINGTON — In the aftermath of two major terrorist attacks on Western targets, America's counterterrorism community is warning that Al Qaeda may launch more overseas operations to influence the presidential elections in November.
A Pakistani army soldier stands guard by the devastated Marriott Hotel following an overnight suicide bombing at Islamabad on September 21, 2008.
Call it Osama bin Laden's "October surprise." In late August, during the weekend between the Democratic and Republican conventions, America's military and intelligence agencies intercepted a series of messages from Al Qaeda's leadership to intermediate members of the organization asking local cells to be prepared for imminent instructions.[...]
What Was Mysterious Activity Going on in the Marriott Hotel Islamabad by United States Marines
Sunday, 21 September 2008 12:18 www.daily.pk
http://www.daily.pk/politics/politicalnews/7422-what-was-mysterious-activity-going-on-in-the-marriott-hotel-islamabad-by-united-states-marines.html
Marriott Hotel has now become a ghost house which was yesterday the most beautiful and prestigious hotels in the Islamabad. While the condemnation of the blasts and the deaths and the loss of property is going on from all the quarters, some intriguing news is also pouring in.[...]
Heretofore Unheard of Group Claims Credit for Islamabad Blast
Posted September 22, 2008
http://news.antiwar.com/2008/09/22/heretofore-unheard-of-group-claims-credit-for-islamabad-blast/
A group calling itself Fedayeen Islam has claimed credit for Saturday’s attack on the Islamabad Marriott Hotel.
Though the authenticity of the claim could not be verified, Al-Arabiya television reported a correspondent received a text message containing a phone number. When the number was called a recorded message took credit for the blast. The voice reportedly had a South Asian accent.[...]
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Bad Business
by Mary Pitt
9/21/08
(on behalf of all the poor and near-poor who "litter our streets")
So Wall Street is in a panic! So the trillion-dollar corporations are in danger of going broke! So the big-time investors are in danger of losing their silk shirts! So what?
We have been told for years that we must not be cry-babies who go bawling to the government for handouts to help us through the bad times; we must bear up under the load of "personal responsibility"; when our jobs disappear into the "global economy" we must "re-train", mechanical engineers need to become truck drivers, automobile designers to learn to put roofs on house, and secretaries and bookkeepers should go to school to "re-train" for jobs as motel maids!
We are not moved by the plight of the moguls leaving broken corporations equipped with only their golden parachutes. We have been the victims of their business practices for a very long time and now that their unethical practice has turned inward on them, the only message that we have for them is that they need to accept "personal responsibility" for their own plight. They victimized us by slick, fast-talking salesmen convincing us that we could really afford to buy that new car or the fine home. Where were they when the repo men came and drove away in our car? Where were they when our belongings were put into the street while we searched desperately for a homeless shelter? So now they're in danger of losing everything? So let them!
In this wonderful country where we are told that the reason three-quarters of the world hate us "because we're free" and we have the right to make our own choices, why are we denying the mega-corporations the right to fail? We are told that if these mega-banks go bankrupt there will be no available credit. So what? Our credit has been ruined long ago and nobody is borrowing except our government.
These are the same people who were given large tax cuts in order to "encourage them to develop jobs". They did, in China, Indonesia, and any number of other nations where cheap labor can be found! For over seven years, out lives have become more and more constricted by the necessity of working multiple low-paying jobs in order to feed our families and buy the poor-quality Chinese-made clothing from Wal-Mart and pay the rent on our sub-standard housing.
But we pray! Oh, yes, and our constant prayer is that our families stay healthy because one illness of any of them can mean bankruptcy court, if we haven't already been there. Insurance is totally out of reach for the working family and there is no real hope in the offing. Senator McCain wants to give us a tax credit of $5,000 per year per family. He has no idea that the amount will not touch the cost of insurance for a family and how do we pay it for a year before we get the tax credit with our income tax refund? Senator Obama wants to require us to carry insurance but will offer some "assistance", leaving us to pay the balance of the premiums. With what? The food we need to feed our children and try to keep them healthy?
But those mega-banks are important! Everybody is a stock-holder through their 401-K or in some other fashion. Wrong again! You don't get a 401-K when you are doing non-union manual labor. If you are lucky enough to have a "good" job in some sort of factory, there may be a 401-K plan but the average laborer has no idea where that money goes but is happy to have a "kitty" from which they can borrow when things get tight. In any event, it is not a "big deal" in their financial picture but just another deduction from their paycheck like the ever-present income tax.
There is not one candidate in the major parties who has any real empathy for the "lower-class" of American worker or those retirees who have to live on their Social Security stipend. When their zillionaire buddies screw up their businesses and are in danger of going broke, there is all sorts of sympathy and we are told that we should pay still more taxes to bail them out. Why should we?
They do not care about us, not even in their professions of their own piety and faith. Christian concern for the less fortunate is simply not a factor in their privileged lives. We are the poor fools who clean their crud and carry their fiscal obligations on our frail shoulders while they live the life of Reilly. We are allowed to go through the motions of democracy periodically, purportedly to choose our leadership, but it seems the choices are really made before we even have a chance to vote and, we strongly suspect that choice is made before we have a chance to express our preference.
The wealthy all tell us that capitalism and the free market are essential to our national well-being. If that be so, it is time that they learned that, when they victimize the less fortunate by granting and trading loans for money that they know, up front, that the debtors can never repay, and when those business practices come back and kick then in their fat hind quarters, they have no right to turn to those same victimized people to bail out their sorry behinds and put them back on their feet.
The author is a very "with-it" old lady who aspires to bring a bit of truth, justice, and common sense to a nation that has lost touch with its humanity in the search for "societal perfection".
9/21/08
(on behalf of all the poor and near-poor who "litter our streets")
So Wall Street is in a panic! So the trillion-dollar corporations are in danger of going broke! So the big-time investors are in danger of losing their silk shirts! So what?
We have been told for years that we must not be cry-babies who go bawling to the government for handouts to help us through the bad times; we must bear up under the load of "personal responsibility"; when our jobs disappear into the "global economy" we must "re-train", mechanical engineers need to become truck drivers, automobile designers to learn to put roofs on house, and secretaries and bookkeepers should go to school to "re-train" for jobs as motel maids!
We are not moved by the plight of the moguls leaving broken corporations equipped with only their golden parachutes. We have been the victims of their business practices for a very long time and now that their unethical practice has turned inward on them, the only message that we have for them is that they need to accept "personal responsibility" for their own plight. They victimized us by slick, fast-talking salesmen convincing us that we could really afford to buy that new car or the fine home. Where were they when the repo men came and drove away in our car? Where were they when our belongings were put into the street while we searched desperately for a homeless shelter? So now they're in danger of losing everything? So let them!
In this wonderful country where we are told that the reason three-quarters of the world hate us "because we're free" and we have the right to make our own choices, why are we denying the mega-corporations the right to fail? We are told that if these mega-banks go bankrupt there will be no available credit. So what? Our credit has been ruined long ago and nobody is borrowing except our government.
These are the same people who were given large tax cuts in order to "encourage them to develop jobs". They did, in China, Indonesia, and any number of other nations where cheap labor can be found! For over seven years, out lives have become more and more constricted by the necessity of working multiple low-paying jobs in order to feed our families and buy the poor-quality Chinese-made clothing from Wal-Mart and pay the rent on our sub-standard housing.
But we pray! Oh, yes, and our constant prayer is that our families stay healthy because one illness of any of them can mean bankruptcy court, if we haven't already been there. Insurance is totally out of reach for the working family and there is no real hope in the offing. Senator McCain wants to give us a tax credit of $5,000 per year per family. He has no idea that the amount will not touch the cost of insurance for a family and how do we pay it for a year before we get the tax credit with our income tax refund? Senator Obama wants to require us to carry insurance but will offer some "assistance", leaving us to pay the balance of the premiums. With what? The food we need to feed our children and try to keep them healthy?
But those mega-banks are important! Everybody is a stock-holder through their 401-K or in some other fashion. Wrong again! You don't get a 401-K when you are doing non-union manual labor. If you are lucky enough to have a "good" job in some sort of factory, there may be a 401-K plan but the average laborer has no idea where that money goes but is happy to have a "kitty" from which they can borrow when things get tight. In any event, it is not a "big deal" in their financial picture but just another deduction from their paycheck like the ever-present income tax.
There is not one candidate in the major parties who has any real empathy for the "lower-class" of American worker or those retirees who have to live on their Social Security stipend. When their zillionaire buddies screw up their businesses and are in danger of going broke, there is all sorts of sympathy and we are told that we should pay still more taxes to bail them out. Why should we?
They do not care about us, not even in their professions of their own piety and faith. Christian concern for the less fortunate is simply not a factor in their privileged lives. We are the poor fools who clean their crud and carry their fiscal obligations on our frail shoulders while they live the life of Reilly. We are allowed to go through the motions of democracy periodically, purportedly to choose our leadership, but it seems the choices are really made before we even have a chance to vote and, we strongly suspect that choice is made before we have a chance to express our preference.
The wealthy all tell us that capitalism and the free market are essential to our national well-being. If that be so, it is time that they learned that, when they victimize the less fortunate by granting and trading loans for money that they know, up front, that the debtors can never repay, and when those business practices come back and kick then in their fat hind quarters, they have no right to turn to those same victimized people to bail out their sorry behinds and put them back on their feet.
The author is a very "with-it" old lady who aspires to bring a bit of truth, justice, and common sense to a nation that has lost touch with its humanity in the search for "societal perfection".
Friday, September 19, 2008
How’s that capitalism thing working out for you?
So. Once again the workers, you know, the people who actually produce things, have to bail out the financiers.
That certainly explains why there isn’t any money to help people who are losing their homes, or have lost their jobs. Certainly explains why we can’t have universal health for every citizen, or why we can’t keep our infrastructure from collapsing, or our schools full of books.
The bastards need every penny they can get their hands on to kill, and to bail out wall street and the banks, and the insurance companies. The very ones who have made it their mission to extract every bit of money they can from the workers through usurious interest rates, spurious fees, and just plain theft.
Now, these are the same people who say that the people who have made bad decisions should just suffer the consequences. And that’s why the bankruptcy law needed to be changed. You know, people were taking advantage of the old law, and trying to hold onto their homes and cars, after being bankrupted through medical bills. Can you imagine the nerve of some people? After all, it was their own fault that they couldn’t afford a $1200 a month to buy health insurance for their family, and still afford groceries, all on their low-wage jobs. And thoes people whose jobs were moved overseas? Well, it was their fault too. So, of course, we couldn’t help them out, because that would be -gasp- socialism. And we can’t have anything like that in our free market rapacious capitalism, now can we.
After all the dust has settled, and the economy is chugging along again, and our grandchildren are still trying to pay off the government’s debt that’s being created with these bail outs and wars, you know what they’ll be listening to? That old bullshit about how we can’t help those less fortunate, because that would be socialism.
That certainly explains why there isn’t any money to help people who are losing their homes, or have lost their jobs. Certainly explains why we can’t have universal health for every citizen, or why we can’t keep our infrastructure from collapsing, or our schools full of books.
The bastards need every penny they can get their hands on to kill, and to bail out wall street and the banks, and the insurance companies. The very ones who have made it their mission to extract every bit of money they can from the workers through usurious interest rates, spurious fees, and just plain theft.
Now, these are the same people who say that the people who have made bad decisions should just suffer the consequences. And that’s why the bankruptcy law needed to be changed. You know, people were taking advantage of the old law, and trying to hold onto their homes and cars, after being bankrupted through medical bills. Can you imagine the nerve of some people? After all, it was their own fault that they couldn’t afford a $1200 a month to buy health insurance for their family, and still afford groceries, all on their low-wage jobs. And thoes people whose jobs were moved overseas? Well, it was their fault too. So, of course, we couldn’t help them out, because that would be -gasp- socialism. And we can’t have anything like that in our free market rapacious capitalism, now can we.
After all the dust has settled, and the economy is chugging along again, and our grandchildren are still trying to pay off the government’s debt that’s being created with these bail outs and wars, you know what they’ll be listening to? That old bullshit about how we can’t help those less fortunate, because that would be socialism.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Palin Simply Does Not Matter
by Mary Pitt
9/13/08
This comment may seem to come from far left field but, when you stop to consider it, the perfect sense of it will become apparent. First, Senator John McCain was all set to prove his "bipartisanship" by naming his colleague and good buddy, Senator Joe Lieberman, as his running mate. His Republican advisors vetoed that idea and told him he needed to choose someone to bring around the religious right who had, to that time, been lukewarm about the prospect of voting for the secular McCain and would not be impressed by the addition of a Jew and a Democrat.
Now, McCain was not overly impressed by Governor Mike Huckabee and the other possibilities might have expected to be asked to actually do something in the McCain administration if they won. I am a contemporary of John McCain, (actually a few years older), and I am familiar with his history throughout his adult life. He is a man who, while being happy to appear to be agreeable to a bipartisan approach to getting what he wants, is also willing to "go it alone" despite any opposition and has actually been quite successful at it. In fact, anybody who was anticipated a "partnership" administration in the manner of Bush/Cheney or even Clinton/Gore is to be greatly surprised. In the macho world of the military, there is only one "Top Dog".
When interviewed prior to being named for the slot, Governor Palin questioned what the duties of a vice-President might be. Well she might. The Constitutional duties of the holder of that seat are to, "preside over the Senate and inquire about the President's health daily"; she is likely to find that this is precisely the extent of her duties under a President McCain. If McCain wants someone to do the job of Dick Cheney in a new administration, he will name someone like Joe Lieberman to a new post which he has the authority to create after the changes in "Executive Privilege" as interpreted by George W. Bush, and the veep will fade into the background as they so often have. I wouldn't go so far as to accuse the good Senator of being a male chauvinist but he has not been known for expressions of his "female sensitivities".
Governor Palin should realize that she is trying to play in the Big Leagues now and being named as the vice-Presidential candidate is not winning Miss America. She is as much "a decorator accent" as Britney's dog. It doesn't matter what she thinks nor what she says beyond attracting the religious nuts to vote for the "big guy" and the best she can hope for as the result of her efforts will be a good paycheck, a fine temporary home in the Naval Observatory, and a lifetime pension. All of which will be good for now but, twenty years from now, she will be approached in the street with the question, "Didn't you used to be somebody?"
The author is a very "with-it" old lady who aspires to bring a bit of truth, justice, and common sense to a nation that has lost touch with its humanity in the search for "societal perfection".
9/13/08
This comment may seem to come from far left field but, when you stop to consider it, the perfect sense of it will become apparent. First, Senator John McCain was all set to prove his "bipartisanship" by naming his colleague and good buddy, Senator Joe Lieberman, as his running mate. His Republican advisors vetoed that idea and told him he needed to choose someone to bring around the religious right who had, to that time, been lukewarm about the prospect of voting for the secular McCain and would not be impressed by the addition of a Jew and a Democrat.
Now, McCain was not overly impressed by Governor Mike Huckabee and the other possibilities might have expected to be asked to actually do something in the McCain administration if they won. I am a contemporary of John McCain, (actually a few years older), and I am familiar with his history throughout his adult life. He is a man who, while being happy to appear to be agreeable to a bipartisan approach to getting what he wants, is also willing to "go it alone" despite any opposition and has actually been quite successful at it. In fact, anybody who was anticipated a "partnership" administration in the manner of Bush/Cheney or even Clinton/Gore is to be greatly surprised. In the macho world of the military, there is only one "Top Dog".
When interviewed prior to being named for the slot, Governor Palin questioned what the duties of a vice-President might be. Well she might. The Constitutional duties of the holder of that seat are to, "preside over the Senate and inquire about the President's health daily"; she is likely to find that this is precisely the extent of her duties under a President McCain. If McCain wants someone to do the job of Dick Cheney in a new administration, he will name someone like Joe Lieberman to a new post which he has the authority to create after the changes in "Executive Privilege" as interpreted by George W. Bush, and the veep will fade into the background as they so often have. I wouldn't go so far as to accuse the good Senator of being a male chauvinist but he has not been known for expressions of his "female sensitivities".
Governor Palin should realize that she is trying to play in the Big Leagues now and being named as the vice-Presidential candidate is not winning Miss America. She is as much "a decorator accent" as Britney's dog. It doesn't matter what she thinks nor what she says beyond attracting the religious nuts to vote for the "big guy" and the best she can hope for as the result of her efforts will be a good paycheck, a fine temporary home in the Naval Observatory, and a lifetime pension. All of which will be good for now but, twenty years from now, she will be approached in the street with the question, "Didn't you used to be somebody?"
The author is a very "with-it" old lady who aspires to bring a bit of truth, justice, and common sense to a nation that has lost touch with its humanity in the search for "societal perfection".
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Monday, September 08, 2008
recent events and a comment
Atrocity in Azizabad:
More Child Sacrifices on the Terror War Altar
Chris Floyd
Monday, 08 September 2008
http://www.chris-floyd.com/content/view/1601/135/
Every day, the shame mounts, the lies grow more brazen and more brutal, and the dishonor spreads and deepens -- ineradicable, like a white garment soaked with blood.
The atrocity in Azizabad, an Afghan village hit by an American airstrike on the night of August 22, is by no means the worst depredation of the so-called "War on Terror," which has left more than million innocent people dead in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia over the past seven years. But the mass death visited upon the sleeping, defenseless citizens of Azizabad encapsulates many of the essential elements of this global campaign of "unipolar domination" and war profiteering: the callous application of high-tech weaponry against unarmed civilians; the witless attack that alienates local supporters and empowers an ever-more violent and radical insurgency; and perhaps the most quintessential element of all -- the knowing lies and deliberate deceits that Washington employs to hide the obscene reality of its Terror War.
Harrowing video film backs Afghan villagers' claims of carnage caused by US troops
Tom Coghlan in Kabul
From The Times
September 8, 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4699077.ece
As the doctor walks between rows of bodies, people lift funeral shrouds to reveal the faces of children and babies, some with severe head injuries.
Women are heard wailing in the background. “Oh God, this is just a child,” shouts one villager. Another cries: “My mother, my mother.”
The grainy video eight-minute footage, seen exclusively by The Times, is the most compelling evidence to emerge of what may be the biggest loss of civilian life during the Afghanistan war.
These are the images that have forced the Pentagon into a rare U-turn. Until yesterday the US military had insisted that only seven civilians were killed in Nawabad on the night of August 21.
[…]
The US military said that its findings were corroborated by an independent journalist embedded with the US force. He was named as the Fox News correspondent Oliver North, who came to prominence in the 1980s Iran-Contra affair…
Palin will meet media in a "few days": McCain
Sun Sep 7, 2008 1:14pm EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0733023520080907
[…]
"She'll agree to an interview when we think it's time and when she feels comfortable doing it," David said on "Fox News Sunday…
------
Does palin really think that the rest of the world will wait on her in a crisis until she feels comfortable??!!
If she can’t step in front of the press on day one, she’s not ready to be president, and she will not be ready in a few months. And here’s another flash for that mccain wuss. I’m looking for a president, not a “commander-in-chief”, when January rolls around.
More Child Sacrifices on the Terror War Altar
Chris Floyd
Monday, 08 September 2008
http://www.chris-floyd.com/content/view/1601/135/
Every day, the shame mounts, the lies grow more brazen and more brutal, and the dishonor spreads and deepens -- ineradicable, like a white garment soaked with blood.
The atrocity in Azizabad, an Afghan village hit by an American airstrike on the night of August 22, is by no means the worst depredation of the so-called "War on Terror," which has left more than million innocent people dead in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia over the past seven years. But the mass death visited upon the sleeping, defenseless citizens of Azizabad encapsulates many of the essential elements of this global campaign of "unipolar domination" and war profiteering: the callous application of high-tech weaponry against unarmed civilians; the witless attack that alienates local supporters and empowers an ever-more violent and radical insurgency; and perhaps the most quintessential element of all -- the knowing lies and deliberate deceits that Washington employs to hide the obscene reality of its Terror War.
Harrowing video film backs Afghan villagers' claims of carnage caused by US troops
Tom Coghlan in Kabul
From The Times
September 8, 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4699077.ece
As the doctor walks between rows of bodies, people lift funeral shrouds to reveal the faces of children and babies, some with severe head injuries.
Women are heard wailing in the background. “Oh God, this is just a child,” shouts one villager. Another cries: “My mother, my mother.”
The grainy video eight-minute footage, seen exclusively by The Times, is the most compelling evidence to emerge of what may be the biggest loss of civilian life during the Afghanistan war.
These are the images that have forced the Pentagon into a rare U-turn. Until yesterday the US military had insisted that only seven civilians were killed in Nawabad on the night of August 21.
[…]
The US military said that its findings were corroborated by an independent journalist embedded with the US force. He was named as the Fox News correspondent Oliver North, who came to prominence in the 1980s Iran-Contra affair…
Palin will meet media in a "few days": McCain
Sun Sep 7, 2008 1:14pm EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0733023520080907
[…]
"She'll agree to an interview when we think it's time and when she feels comfortable doing it," David said on "Fox News Sunday…
------
Does palin really think that the rest of the world will wait on her in a crisis until she feels comfortable??!!
If she can’t step in front of the press on day one, she’s not ready to be president, and she will not be ready in a few months. And here’s another flash for that mccain wuss. I’m looking for a president, not a “commander-in-chief”, when January rolls around.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
speeches
In case you haven't been paying attention, tonight, mcsame is scheduled to give his acceptance speech. This is after Gustav played with the start of the convention.
In case you haven't been paying attention, tonight, the New York Giants (the superbowl champions) are playing the Washington Redskins in the NFL season opener on ABC.
Guess which one football fans will be watching.
In case you haven't been paying attention, tonight, the New York Giants (the superbowl champions) are playing the Washington Redskins in the NFL season opener on ABC.
Guess which one football fans will be watching.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
see you at the bridge, guy
Oscar came to live with us in February 2004. He came from a small dog rescue place after being abandoned in Texas.
He died today of cancer. We buried him in the gazebo.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
The Hollow Man
Sunday 31 August 2008
by William Rivers Pitt
http://www.truthout.org/article/the-hollow-man
Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking.
- H. L. Mencken
In this election, it is the character of the candidate that will matter the most.
That, and pretty much that alone, has been the core campaign message Republican candidate John McCain has been peddling to all and sundry for nearly two years. His devotion to this particular talking point has come to resemble the kind of passionate zeal rarely seen beyond the compound walls of survivalist militia groups; and the slavish dedication he has displayed in tolerating the mindless monotony of such endless repetition is matched only by the muddy mooing of sacred cows along the shores of the Ganges River in India.
Clearly, Mr. McCain has become deeply invested in trying to keep the entire presidential campaign conversation focused only on this mantra regarding "Character." To be sure, he has definitely put in the work. He began his second, and presumably final presidential campaign on the second Friday in November of 2006; in the six hundred and sixty one days that have passed since he became a candidate again, his maximum efforts have been focused on flogging the "Character" theme every step of the way.
Presidential races being what they are, it was simply impossible for McCain to remain totally focused on this one-liner sloganeering project. Every rare now and infrequent then, something would come along with enough juice to merit the creation and release of a new statement. The campaign message machine would suddenly swerve out of the "Character counts" slow lane and merge itself into the heavier traffic, passenger-side turn signal blinking away for no good reason as usual, but only for a few miles.
Sooner or later, the bus always veered back into that slow lane, those newer messages eventually died of neglect, and would go floating up to whatever Heaven there may be for topics that were either too hot for a compromised candidate to handle, or were too detailed for a stupid candidate to comprehend. Mr. McCain has evinced both facets of this particular phenomenon on more than a few occasions, most notably during the recent Russia-Georgia crisis. Beyond that, almost every single time some reporter posited queries about Iraq, or Afghanistan, or the entire African continent, or basically anything else pertaining to issues of national security, McCain wound up dropping the informational ball.
There are several very good reasons why McCain would like to keep all debate and discussion in this presidential race right there with him in that slow lane. First and foremost is the simple truth that the man basically has nowhere else to go. His dilemma brings to mind that old maxim trial lawyers have lived and died by since time out of mind: when the law is with you, pound on the law; when the facts are with you, pound on the facts; if neither the facts nor the law are with you, pound on the table. That is John McCain's entire political reality in a nutshell.
The facts reveal that Mr. McCain has thrown his support behind just about every asinine and idiotic decision made by the single most unpopular and unsuccessful American president there ever was and, God willing, ever will be. The facts reveal that he has boomeranged away from so many policy positions he once espoused, going so far as to denounce a whole sheaf of legislation he had personally authored, because the Republican base despised those issues; but since he needed their support if he ever wanted to have a chance of winning, it was whiplash be damned and the Devil take the hindmost.
The facts, along with plenty of photographic evidence, reveal that while the city of New Orleans drowned beneath the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina, McCain was snuggling with George W. Bush beneath the very same blanket of willful ignorance and sadistic indifference that has defined this administration. By a horrifying coincidence, the city of New Orleans now finds itself in the crosshairs of yet another deadly hurricane, not only on the anniversary of Katrina's destruction, but also on the eve of the Republican National Convention that will officially nominate Mr. McCain as the GOP's candidate.
Before the end of the week, no matter what happens with Hurricane Gustav, smart money says those pictures of McCain yukking it up with Bush while New Orleans was washed into the sea are going to make another appearance in the mainstream news media. In the interim, do please offer all manner of prayers and positive thoughts, in the name and for the sake of every living soul facing the hammer of one more terrible storm.
The facts reveal that Mr. McCain risked the lives of more than one hundred American soldiers by dragging them through a dangerous Baghdad marketplace for a campaign photo-op, all because he was taking heat in the American press for claiming that Baghdad was a perfectly safe town to take a stroll through, and hoped some pictures of him doing exactly that might bat down the criticism. The day after he pulled this little stunt, an Iraqi militia came through that same marketplace and massacred more than twenty innocent civilians to show McCain the difference between a safe neighborhood and where they live.
The law is hardly worth mentioning at this point when it comes to Mr. McCain. Nothing much can be said about a man who once opposed the use of torture by the American military, but began waffling on the issue almost immediately after deciding to run for president. While it cannot be said that McCain is now an active supporter of torture in all its forms, he won't be getting any thank-you notes from anyone unfortunate enough to experience the waterboarding technique he recently chose to endorse. One might define this as hair-splitting, unless one happens to be getting wet in that very unhappy fashion, and it should not be forgotten that Mr. McCain probably knows more about the realities of torture than just about any living American today. The contradiction here is, quite frankly, unspeakably chilling, and does him no favors regarding his "Character" fixation.
Nothing much can be said about a man who now supports the repeal of Roe v. Wade, a repeal he once opposed." Nothing much can be said about a man who opposed the indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and then decided he actually supported the policy, and then went on to publicly denounce a Supreme Court ruling on the matter that was exactly in line with his prior opinion. He used to support diplomatic engagement with Hamas, but not any more. He used to support diplomatic engagement with Syria, but not anymore. He used to believe the NRA should not be allowed to play a role in the setting of GOP party policy, but not anymore.
Nothing much can be said about a man who has given his support to the NSA's warrantless wiretapping surveillance program which was initiated by the Bush administration, which has violated the Constitutional rights of millions of American citizens, and which McCain once believed was entirely illegal. This man helped to establish the legal legitimization of torture, and looked on mutely while Mr. Bush and his people not only ravaged the entire Department of Justice in the name of politics and personal protection, but went further into the realm of abject criminal corruption by refusing to honor every legally issued subpoena they were served with.
All that holds this idea that is America together, at bottom, is the good will of people in power and their deliberate subservience to the rule of law. When subpoenas are ignored by the arrogance of the powerful, the rule of law is over and the country is all but gone. McCain not only chose to be lumped in with these wretched practitioners of serial treason, but bestowed his blanket approval upon their patently illegal policy of spying on every American with a phone and the power of speech, perhaps because he actually convinced himself they had earned such additional legal largesse. Or maybe he just didn't give a damn about anything other than keeping himself on the good side of people like Bush, because he knew he was going to need their help to raise money for his presidential run, and nothing else mattered more than this.
The facts are not with Mr. McCain, nor is the law, so all he has been able to do is pound the table with the mythology of his so-called "Character." The whole POW thing is about all he has left. His "maverick" reputation was already a threadbare and pitiful thing before Hillary Clinton became a Senator, so there isn't much there for him, either. It all sounds like what Politician Hell might be like: damnation down there means running for office on a platform made out of thirty-year-old horror stories everyone has heard a thousand times already, and a bunch of baloney about being an "outsider" that nobody really believes anymore. Have fun with that.
There is no joy in Mudville following the Sarah Palin VP selection, for that matter. This big to-do was supposed to highlight whatever remains of his "maverick" image. The last, best club he had in his campaign bag was the line of attack against Barack Obama's lack of executive and foreign policy experience. By choosing Palin to be his running mate, McCain stapled his entire campaign to a woman whose shiny right-wing Christian credentials cannot obscure the fact that she has slightly less foreign policy or executive experience than a ham sandwich in the pantry of Air Force One. In other words, that one good club might as well have been thrown into a furnace six hundred and sixty one days ago for all the good it will do him now. Bluntly, this Palin choice not only failed to prop up his outsider credentials, but has also raised serious concerns about whether his basic judgment and understanding of simple reality can be relied on under any circumstances.
This ugly reality is McCain's well-earned, supremely deserved reward for deciding to abandon any pretense of character or integrity, with deliberation and intent, while crowing to all within hearing about the importance of character and integrity. Everything he abandoned had nothing at all to do with what he believes or doesn't believe as an American or as an elected representative. He abandoned these things because he wants to live in the White House, period. He wants this with every dirty, immoral, shiftless, unprincipled fiber of his being; and through this has become a living, pathetic, abhorrent example of the damage to heart and soul such lust for personal gain can cause.
For men who have neither character, nor integrity, nor honor, nor shame, for men like John McCain, that kind of wanting is all that remains in their heart, and is all that really matters to them anymore. Men like this, men like John McCain, are entirely hollow inside, empty, and truly dead in every way that once counted them human. They are skin, bones, emptiness, and nothing else besides.
by William Rivers Pitt
http://www.truthout.org/article/the-hollow-man
Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking.
- H. L. Mencken
In this election, it is the character of the candidate that will matter the most.
That, and pretty much that alone, has been the core campaign message Republican candidate John McCain has been peddling to all and sundry for nearly two years. His devotion to this particular talking point has come to resemble the kind of passionate zeal rarely seen beyond the compound walls of survivalist militia groups; and the slavish dedication he has displayed in tolerating the mindless monotony of such endless repetition is matched only by the muddy mooing of sacred cows along the shores of the Ganges River in India.
Clearly, Mr. McCain has become deeply invested in trying to keep the entire presidential campaign conversation focused only on this mantra regarding "Character." To be sure, he has definitely put in the work. He began his second, and presumably final presidential campaign on the second Friday in November of 2006; in the six hundred and sixty one days that have passed since he became a candidate again, his maximum efforts have been focused on flogging the "Character" theme every step of the way.
Presidential races being what they are, it was simply impossible for McCain to remain totally focused on this one-liner sloganeering project. Every rare now and infrequent then, something would come along with enough juice to merit the creation and release of a new statement. The campaign message machine would suddenly swerve out of the "Character counts" slow lane and merge itself into the heavier traffic, passenger-side turn signal blinking away for no good reason as usual, but only for a few miles.
Sooner or later, the bus always veered back into that slow lane, those newer messages eventually died of neglect, and would go floating up to whatever Heaven there may be for topics that were either too hot for a compromised candidate to handle, or were too detailed for a stupid candidate to comprehend. Mr. McCain has evinced both facets of this particular phenomenon on more than a few occasions, most notably during the recent Russia-Georgia crisis. Beyond that, almost every single time some reporter posited queries about Iraq, or Afghanistan, or the entire African continent, or basically anything else pertaining to issues of national security, McCain wound up dropping the informational ball.
There are several very good reasons why McCain would like to keep all debate and discussion in this presidential race right there with him in that slow lane. First and foremost is the simple truth that the man basically has nowhere else to go. His dilemma brings to mind that old maxim trial lawyers have lived and died by since time out of mind: when the law is with you, pound on the law; when the facts are with you, pound on the facts; if neither the facts nor the law are with you, pound on the table. That is John McCain's entire political reality in a nutshell.
The facts reveal that Mr. McCain has thrown his support behind just about every asinine and idiotic decision made by the single most unpopular and unsuccessful American president there ever was and, God willing, ever will be. The facts reveal that he has boomeranged away from so many policy positions he once espoused, going so far as to denounce a whole sheaf of legislation he had personally authored, because the Republican base despised those issues; but since he needed their support if he ever wanted to have a chance of winning, it was whiplash be damned and the Devil take the hindmost.
The facts, along with plenty of photographic evidence, reveal that while the city of New Orleans drowned beneath the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina, McCain was snuggling with George W. Bush beneath the very same blanket of willful ignorance and sadistic indifference that has defined this administration. By a horrifying coincidence, the city of New Orleans now finds itself in the crosshairs of yet another deadly hurricane, not only on the anniversary of Katrina's destruction, but also on the eve of the Republican National Convention that will officially nominate Mr. McCain as the GOP's candidate.
Before the end of the week, no matter what happens with Hurricane Gustav, smart money says those pictures of McCain yukking it up with Bush while New Orleans was washed into the sea are going to make another appearance in the mainstream news media. In the interim, do please offer all manner of prayers and positive thoughts, in the name and for the sake of every living soul facing the hammer of one more terrible storm.
The facts reveal that Mr. McCain risked the lives of more than one hundred American soldiers by dragging them through a dangerous Baghdad marketplace for a campaign photo-op, all because he was taking heat in the American press for claiming that Baghdad was a perfectly safe town to take a stroll through, and hoped some pictures of him doing exactly that might bat down the criticism. The day after he pulled this little stunt, an Iraqi militia came through that same marketplace and massacred more than twenty innocent civilians to show McCain the difference between a safe neighborhood and where they live.
The law is hardly worth mentioning at this point when it comes to Mr. McCain. Nothing much can be said about a man who once opposed the use of torture by the American military, but began waffling on the issue almost immediately after deciding to run for president. While it cannot be said that McCain is now an active supporter of torture in all its forms, he won't be getting any thank-you notes from anyone unfortunate enough to experience the waterboarding technique he recently chose to endorse. One might define this as hair-splitting, unless one happens to be getting wet in that very unhappy fashion, and it should not be forgotten that Mr. McCain probably knows more about the realities of torture than just about any living American today. The contradiction here is, quite frankly, unspeakably chilling, and does him no favors regarding his "Character" fixation.
Nothing much can be said about a man who now supports the repeal of Roe v. Wade, a repeal he once opposed." Nothing much can be said about a man who opposed the indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and then decided he actually supported the policy, and then went on to publicly denounce a Supreme Court ruling on the matter that was exactly in line with his prior opinion. He used to support diplomatic engagement with Hamas, but not any more. He used to support diplomatic engagement with Syria, but not anymore. He used to believe the NRA should not be allowed to play a role in the setting of GOP party policy, but not anymore.
Nothing much can be said about a man who has given his support to the NSA's warrantless wiretapping surveillance program which was initiated by the Bush administration, which has violated the Constitutional rights of millions of American citizens, and which McCain once believed was entirely illegal. This man helped to establish the legal legitimization of torture, and looked on mutely while Mr. Bush and his people not only ravaged the entire Department of Justice in the name of politics and personal protection, but went further into the realm of abject criminal corruption by refusing to honor every legally issued subpoena they were served with.
All that holds this idea that is America together, at bottom, is the good will of people in power and their deliberate subservience to the rule of law. When subpoenas are ignored by the arrogance of the powerful, the rule of law is over and the country is all but gone. McCain not only chose to be lumped in with these wretched practitioners of serial treason, but bestowed his blanket approval upon their patently illegal policy of spying on every American with a phone and the power of speech, perhaps because he actually convinced himself they had earned such additional legal largesse. Or maybe he just didn't give a damn about anything other than keeping himself on the good side of people like Bush, because he knew he was going to need their help to raise money for his presidential run, and nothing else mattered more than this.
The facts are not with Mr. McCain, nor is the law, so all he has been able to do is pound the table with the mythology of his so-called "Character." The whole POW thing is about all he has left. His "maverick" reputation was already a threadbare and pitiful thing before Hillary Clinton became a Senator, so there isn't much there for him, either. It all sounds like what Politician Hell might be like: damnation down there means running for office on a platform made out of thirty-year-old horror stories everyone has heard a thousand times already, and a bunch of baloney about being an "outsider" that nobody really believes anymore. Have fun with that.
There is no joy in Mudville following the Sarah Palin VP selection, for that matter. This big to-do was supposed to highlight whatever remains of his "maverick" image. The last, best club he had in his campaign bag was the line of attack against Barack Obama's lack of executive and foreign policy experience. By choosing Palin to be his running mate, McCain stapled his entire campaign to a woman whose shiny right-wing Christian credentials cannot obscure the fact that she has slightly less foreign policy or executive experience than a ham sandwich in the pantry of Air Force One. In other words, that one good club might as well have been thrown into a furnace six hundred and sixty one days ago for all the good it will do him now. Bluntly, this Palin choice not only failed to prop up his outsider credentials, but has also raised serious concerns about whether his basic judgment and understanding of simple reality can be relied on under any circumstances.
This ugly reality is McCain's well-earned, supremely deserved reward for deciding to abandon any pretense of character or integrity, with deliberation and intent, while crowing to all within hearing about the importance of character and integrity. Everything he abandoned had nothing at all to do with what he believes or doesn't believe as an American or as an elected representative. He abandoned these things because he wants to live in the White House, period. He wants this with every dirty, immoral, shiftless, unprincipled fiber of his being; and through this has become a living, pathetic, abhorrent example of the damage to heart and soul such lust for personal gain can cause.
For men who have neither character, nor integrity, nor honor, nor shame, for men like John McCain, that kind of wanting is all that remains in their heart, and is all that really matters to them anymore. Men like this, men like John McCain, are entirely hollow inside, empty, and truly dead in every way that once counted them human. They are skin, bones, emptiness, and nothing else besides.
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